Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-03-19

whole world do him honor
LOOKING at II only from the political stand. |
poinA what general during tho late war by |
any battle or camr~ign, by anything at all he |
may have done, won greater victory for the |
union. one that WAS worth more to our CAUSE
than the moral victory Beechsr gained for us
when he went to England 70 meet, battle
with, and overcome the almost universally
adverse and even violently inimical public
opinion there, that seemed ON the point OF
swing England - . virtual ally to the south
know OF no moro wonderful example In all
history OF heroic courage, and the triumph Of
reason and conscience over prejudice and
passion, than that presented by Henry Ward
Beecher when alone he stood up before .
Kissing, yelling, ,multitud In Manchester, and
forced those thousands Of enemies first to
silence then to attention, then to sympathy,
and finally made them burst out into cheers
for the stars and stripes and the cause they
represented. And what he did there
was only an epitome OF the moral battles he
fought and victories he won In . dozen Eng.
lish cities, until this one man, this mighty
man, had conquered the stubborn opinion
aud gained the whole heart of all England
for the Union. 1t 10 safe to say that tho men
Of QUE country who would have dared to at.
touHV wuht uc uhEcu NtTc loW Anu IhI w.
tween. 1t is A. safe to say that Henry Ward
Beecher was the only man In America who
cou Id have accomplished what he did.
AGAIN, what American statesman ever did
more than he to rid our country of the curse Of
slavery? For II must never I've forgotten that
Henry Ward Beecher was one OF that original
little band Of aboltionists whose many years
Of selt-denying and persistent labosS, ham
mering away at perverted public opinion
and conscience, alone made 1t possible for
Abraham Lincoln to issue his Emanci patton
Declaration. And of that little band mono
did more important service than he whose
recent death we mourn. Mrs stowe with
her " uncls Toms Cabin" reached and in.
huenced the largest number. Garrison with
his newspaper stirred up to action, often to
frenzy, smaller number and mainly OF such
only as already sympsthizsd with the cause
OF abolition. But Bsecher, together with
Theodore Parker, reached and Influenced by
far the weightiest and most important class
They appealed not only to the sentimentalists
Of the land, nor stirred up to white heat the
luke.wsrm friends Of the cause, but they
worked upon the reason and conscience OF
the thinking portion Of the country, convinced
the public intellect, converted the public
brain. And Of the two, Beecher with the
most far-reachipg effect His service In this
matter, 1t seems to me, has never received
the recognition 1t deserved; that 10, not from
the masses, the few who are at all acquainted
with the inner history OF the abolition move
ment always knew and confessed that
Beecher ss much as any one man made eman.
cipation possible II the time when 1t was de-
| c!sred.
/ Is there any other man of our country OF
| whom as much can be said' Is there any
one to whom the country owes more than TO
him? II ever a national monument was de-
served, the memory OF Henry Ward Beecher
deserves ona
Bur great ss were his services in the two
| directions referred to, consider them only .
q very small part Of the good he has done In
our land, and for the human raca Who did
more than he to emsncipate the American
l pulpit from the stitf and cold Journalism oi
| by gone days? Who did more to humanize
our preaching, l will not say popularizs, fol
that word has been too much abused by re-
liaious quscks to convey my meaninR' Who
| taught preachers As he did how to mix heart
with brains, and brains with heart In . ser
/ mon? Who brought more sound, practical
common sense into religion, and more OF the
true spirit OF religion into our American
common sense, than he?
Bur, they say, his theology was moi
"sound." Well, sm not enough Of theo
logian to pass judgment on any mans theol
oRy. II his religion IN all right that's sbou
all / ask or can understand, unless he set
himself up for Q professional theoloRian
which don't think Bsecher ever did. AnC
happen to know that In some respects hh
religion was good deal better than that OF .
number OF preachers whose ''sound theology
is their strong point He may not have beer
able 10 cumberland all mysteries and al
knowledge" ss men like Joseph Cook anC
/ Talmage can, but he did have q beautiful
supply of that charity about which Pau
/ wrote to the Corinthians, which Z" "seekett
not her own" "hopeth all things" and by
the depth and breadth Of its love Ii /" the full
hlling of the law" and "'he bond OF perfect
LET me tell you how ! know this No
only by the fact that Mr.. Beecher In his life
showed himself capable Of acting out the
broad principle OF Christ that "whosoever il
not against us Is for u.s." and ever refused tc
call down fire on any one because he :" fol
the name OF Christ, nor cared whether Of
not such an one were OF Cephas or OF Apollos
OF Luther or OF the Pope, OF the NNSlN
Articles or OF the Westminster Con iession -
but also by O little circumstance that came
under my immediste observation only few
years ago. A young pastor OF an humble
church in Philadelphia had conceived the
ambitious plan OF getting up grand cours<
Star Course, In the Academy OF Music, thu
proceeds TO 20 to the cause o' foreign mis-
sions OF his denomination. Filled with thu
/ idea, he wrote to about dozen OF the mos
/ celebrated Lecturers In the country, telling
them his plan, and asking them for theil
lowest terIns Among them were suct
"sound" theolo9ians ~ Drs. John Hall
Philips Brooks, and II / remember rightly
Richard Storrs, besides other men like Joht
/ B. Cough and several more equally fam0uA
/ He also wrote to Mr.. Beecher, though, know
ing thst he could at any time get i've hun
dred dollars an evening in Philadelphia, h>
had hardly any hope OF even An answer from
hinL What was his amazement then, WheE
/ the very first reply that he received was from
the great Brooklyn "heretic"; and 1t was I
letter full of the noblest, tenderest, truee
Christian love and fellowship, not only offer
ing to lecture free Of any charge, but alst
giving much valuable counsel - TO how 4
/ make the scheme Q success. He Also aftor
/ while heard from the various "sound" bTeth
rem, few lines from each, all uniformly 70
tusing his request He realized - never b
fore what Paul meant by writing about " th(
tongues OF men and OF angelaY becoming "al
| sounding bras, or q tinkiing cymbal," wher
divorced from charity. He understood how
| Q mans religion may be better than his the
ology. He felt deeply that charity II the
greatest OF virtues, and the p0ssessor OF II thu
greatest OF men. The theology OF Hall and
Brooks may have been the more orthodox
but that pastor at least felt that the charity O
Beecher was the more Christlika
But, 1t 10 said, he had bad stains upon hia
reputation. Yea, but not upon his character,
mot one hes ever been proved. On this